


Hollow Bones

by Chummy



Series: Warm Summer Nights [3]
Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Fluff and Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Suicide, Other, References to Depression, dealing with exile ptsd, i promise it’s not that angsty, its tommy were talking about, so mild panic attack
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 07:54:26
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29203926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chummy/pseuds/Chummy
Summary: “Well,” he starts. “It sure is a snowman.”“Don't be an asshole,” Tommy snorts, moving to fix one of the buttons threatening to fall off. “I think he looks cool.”“He’s ugly as fuck.”“You were my inspiration,” Tommy bites back and Techno can’t help the laugh that tumbles out of him. “I was gonna give him glasses and everything but I can’t find enough sticks.”
Relationships: Technoblade & TommyInnit (Video Blogging RPF), Wilbur Soot & Technoblade
Series: Warm Summer Nights [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2099811
Comments: 14
Kudos: 205





	Hollow Bones

**Author's Note:**

> ay

_ In the quiet he holds _

_ runs a river that will never find home _

  
  


“Okay, we need to get food, bring your bow, might as well get practice with it-“ Techno turns and sighs, his planning falling on deaf ears as he looks at Tommy who has started rolling the base for what’s going to be the world's squarest snowman. “Are you listening to me Tommy?” 

Tommy pats his bare hands on the wet snow,  _ where are his gloves,  _ tongue sticking out of his mouth as he contemplates its shape and construction. “You were saying something?” 

“Haha, seriously pay attention,” he deadpans and walks past Tommy back into the house. Tommy pays him no mind, beginning to roll the torso for his snowman. 

He wipes his boots across the mat before entering, calling out for Wilbur as he does. He doesn’t flinch as much when Wilbur materializes out of thin air anymore, he considers it progress. 

“What’s up Tech!” Wilbur smiles, bounces on his heels. Techno smiles, small and muted. 

“Help me find Tommy’s gloves, the idiot keeps forgetting them,” He says as he moves toward the makeshift armory to grab Tommy’s bow, knowing if he doesn’t do it, it  _ will not _ get done.

“Sure thing!” Wilbur says as he disappears, Techno shivers at the lack of footsteps that follow him but brushes it aside. 

Techno goes through the motions of packing, extra arrows, his sword, food for the horses and them, glancing every now and then to the monstrosity of Tommy’s icy creation through the window. Occasionally his grunts and laughter filter through the cracks, carried by a frosty breeze.

“I got them!” Wilbur says, appearing at Techno’s side, holding the gloves out to him. They’re stained a deep blue in the shape of Wilbur’s palms. Just like everything Wilbur now touches, he takes a cursory glance around the house, immediately being able to point out ten blue stained objects within reach. 

“Thank you,” he says and Wilbur grins, Techno wants to ruffle his ghostly head of hair. “Are you gonna come with us?” Wilbur had been mainly in the house with them since Techno acknowledged him, but there were random points where the ghost was nowhere to be found, Techno doesn’t wanna ask where he goes when he leaves. 

Wilbur shakes his head. “Never liked hunting much, I think,” He adds on at the end, gazing at the wall trying to piece things together in his mind.

“No you never really did,” Techno offers him, it’s true. His first hunting trip turned disaster as he cried over the animals they hunted. He had been too soft hearted back then, Techno wonders when that finally took a turn. 

“Did Tommy?” Wilbur asks, looking outside at Tommy, who was searching the ground for rocks to decorate his snowman with. Techno huffs out a laugh. 

“I wouldn’t say he ever liked it. He cried when I told him what his rabbit hide gloves were made out of actual rabbits and not just called that for no reason,” He chuckles at the memory as Wilbur shakes his head with a small smile. 

“So mean Techno.” 

“It had to be done.” He says, shaking his head as Tommy picks up sticks for makeshift arms. 

“Alright well, we’ll be back,” he looks around a bit awkwardly. “Hold the fort down while we’re gone.” He says and tries not to cringe at the salute of good faith Wilbur gives him. 

He walks back outside to Tommy contemplating his creation. Techno stands next to him, tilting his head to the side to capture the way its shoulders tilt and fall. 

“Well,” he starts. “It sure is a snowman.” 

“Don't be an asshole,” Tommy snorts, moving to fix one of the buttons threatening to fall off. “I think he looks cool.” 

“He’s ugly as fuck.”

“You were my inspiration,” Tommy bites back and Techno can’t help the laugh that tumbles out of him. “I was gonna give him glasses and everything but I can’t find enough sticks.” 

“I have an old pair you can place on him when we come back,” he offers and doesn’t know why he does, Tommy looks as shocked as he is by the suggestion. He recovers quickly enough. 

“Can we put your mask instead?” He says, reaching spindly, pink cold fingers, to tap across the bone resting across his cheeks. Techno bats the fingers away. 

“No, now let’s go.” 

Tommy grumbles but doesn’t argue, Techno holds out his blue tainted gloves for him and waits for him to put them on, before handing him his bow and bundle of arrows. 

“Why couldn’t you give me the crossbow?” Tommy complains as he straps the weapon to his back.

“Because I like my crossbow and you need to learn the basics.” 

“Blah blah technicalities.” 

Techno rolls his eyes before walking away to the stable to grab their horses. 

“Hey Carl,” he mumbles, Carl neighs, Techno smiles, good horse. “And hello Juniper.” Tommy’s horse, she neighs, Techno pets across her nose as she nuzzles her hand. She’s a good horse. 

“Let’s go folks,” he says, leads in hand and horses in tow. He rounds the house to Tommy still regarding the sad snowman, a faraway look in his eyes. 

“Tommy,” he says, keeping the worry out of his tone. Tommy turns to him slowly, blinking away the few snowflakes that gathered on his eyelashes, the cloudy look along with it. 

He holds Juniper steady as Tommy climbs onto her, waiting for him to be adjusted in the saddle and cooing at her to get on his own horse. 

He rubs across Carl’s neck, turns to Tommy to gesture for him to follow. Tommy is still looking at the snowman.

“Tommy,” He says again, sterner.

Tommy looks forward, slumped forward slightly and nodding. Techno kicks lightly at Carl’s side and starts off. A few paces in front of Tommy. 

Techno turns as the house starts to fade in the horizon, lifting a hand to wave at Wilbur, who he’s sure is watching them depart. Tommy turns and does the same, excited movements and some yelling. 

They continue forward, to the nearby woods where wildlife flourishes despite the cold. It’s quiet for a few minutes, which Techno is both thankful for and unnerved by. 

Thankful because they’re hunting and silence is crucial, unnerved because Tommy knows that and has never cared before. Often being the cause of more than a couple spooked deer and rabbits. 

It’s only a few more moments of mulling over the thought before Tommy speaks. 

“Tubbo always made better snowman,” it’s soft, forlorn, dripping in emotions he can’t begin to tell apart. He turns a bit in his saddle to look at Tommy. Who’s looking ahead. 

The words were true, Techno remembering the many winters where the two would build a legion of snowmen in eithers kids' backyards, always being able to tell who built what. He’s not sure what to say to that, what Tommy wants to hear. 

It’s the first time he'd mentioned Tubbo. Techno isn’t stupid, he knows  _ something _ must have happened for them to be apart. The lack of visits from Tubbo leads him to two conclusions. 

Tubbo is dead. Or.

Tubbo is somehow involved with Tommy’s exile. 

Only something drastic could tear the two apart. How dramatic. Still, he doesn’t know when to  _ ask. _

“Actually I built them better, you two sucked.” He says instead. 

A beat. Then a snort. 

“Only cause you could carry more weight than us!” Tommy retorts.

“Still counts.” He shrugs. 

Tommy calls him a dickhead. He doesn’t think about the lonely snowman in their yard. 

-

They practice Tommy’s aim in a clearing, the sun high in the sky. Tommy complains about having the wrong gloves for the activity. Techno reminds him frostbite is a bitch. 

“Your elbow is too low,” Techno corrects and Tommy fixes his posture. “Hand to your cheek, and close your eye,” Tommy does, settling into a more comfortable position, body remembering his stance and the string and wood in his hands. 

“Good,” Techno says, settling down onto a nearby boulder, absentmindedly feeding the horses apple slices. “Now breathe, and let go.” 

He watches Tommy’s form relax, bright blue eyes focus. The string snaps and the arrow flies. A near perfect bullseye on their makeshift target. 

Techno whistles, covers his smile with the apple slice he eats and Tommy smiles, proud and mighty. 

“Good job.”

“I’m just a natural at this,” Tommy smirks. “You wish you had this much talent.”

Techno snorts. “Ah yes, you caught me, I’m so envious oh wonderful one.” 

Tommy laughs and positions himself again. Techno cuts slices for Tommy when he finishes. They continue on.

-

The campfire between them crackles. Tommy pokes at a strip of chicken with a stick. 

“Stop that.” Techno says, before continuing his process of taking the bones out of the salmon they caught. They hunted for a few hours, enough for Tommy to complain about being bored and Techno to finally be satisfied. He was excited to get home and put to use the furs and preserve the meat. 

“I’m cooking Techno, I’m a chef.” Tommy pokes at the chicken again. Techno rolls his eyes. It’s quiet save for the fire and the occasional whinnying of a horse. Techno is glad for the breeze, the wind dispersing the smoke from the campsite. 

“Oh!” Tommy gasps, looks over Techno’s shoulder. Techno has a hand on his blade but Tommy’s eyes are wide with glee. “A fox!” He whispers loudly, pointing excitedly. Techno sighs, easing his fingers off the knife and turning slowly. 

It is. Indeed a fox. Asleep by a nearby tree trunk.

“Hm, fox.” 

“It's cute!” Tommy sounds offended at Techno’s lack of reaction. 

“It’s very cute Tommy, try not to wake it up with your voice.” 

“Oh, right.” Comes the sheepish reply. Tommy moves his food off the fire, offering the pan to Techno, who lays his fish downs, reaching for the few spices he brought with them. 

“What do you think Wilbur’s up too?” Tommy says through a mouthful of chicken and Techno scowls. 

“Chew your food and I don’t know, knocking shit off my shelves probably.” 

Tommy laughs at that. Techno’s scowls deepen. Wilbur had recently taken to dropping things and moving things around as a strange call for attention. He’d gotten used to the soft thumps of one of his books hitting plush carpet and Wilbur’s giggling immediately after it. 

“It’s funny, I think that’s his way of haunting the house, real spooky you gotta give him props.” Tommy swallows and laughs. 

“Yeah ahuh, is he possessed by a bastard house cat?”

Tommy nearly doubles over in laughter and Techno can’t help a chuckle. They talk and eat, the fire crackles, the wind dies down for the night. 

He watches Tommy’s eyelids drag and weigh, opening rapidly when he realizes he’d been nodding off. Techno adds more wood to the fire, watches the smoke and the hazy visions of heat rise, Tommy snuggles more into his coat and cape, mouth and nose barely visible above the fur. He doesn’t tell Tommy to sleep, just points at the sleeping bags and waits for Tommy to settle into it before turning and watching the surroundings, his own way of telling him he’ll keep watch. Only a few minutes of watching the dark trees pass when he hears familiar light snoring. 

Techno sits for a while, watching the stars through the small bits of clearing between the leaves, hovers his hand over the fire when the night chill starts to truly settle, makes sure Tommy is sleeping and warm. The last thing he needs is for him to come down with a cold.

_ Do they even have regular medicine at the house?  _ Techno can’t remember the last time he’d come down with a common cold. But has a hard time putting away memories of a younger, sicker Tommy who seemed to be competing for who can get the sickest and was  _ winning. _

He was viciously contagious too. If Tommy was sick that meant Tubbo was sick which meant the two of them would choose a house to stay over until their twin sickness had passed. Techno thought they would get sick on purpose just to hang out with each other, or at least fake a sore throat and runny nose at the same time. 

He remembers Wilbur doing everything possible to not catch the passing cold, everything except _stay_ _away_ from Tommy. Taking extra vitamins in the morning while still doting on the ill child. Playing with him when he had the energy, sitting close to make sure he ate his dinner, talking his ear off when Tommys throat was too sore to fill the space. It'd only be a few days until Wilbur was also bed ridden and snot nosed and Techno and their father were left with three ailing children. 

Techno never got sick, no matter how close he stuck to whoever was. Tommy and Wilbur used to complain about it whenever they came down with a cold and Techno would rub it in their faces that he could breathe easily through his nose. He would also read Tommy to sleep when his cough persisted during harsh nights, would help rub ice cold towels across his forehead and chest when his fever grew deadly, would shove spoonfuls of medicine down Wilburs throat because he hated the taste, would shake and hold his fathers hand tightly watching his younger brother wheeze and cough and cry when the sickness reached its peak. 

He never slept much when they were sick. Tubbo and Tommy burned too hot as they clung to him in the dark for him to sleep. Wilbur sneezed and complained too loudly for him to sleep. He couldn’t make sure Tommy was breathing if he was asleep. 

Tommy shuffles a bit in his sleeping bag, head lolling to the side slightly. Techno can see a slight flush to his ears and cheeks and moves to grab the blankets he isn’t using to cover Tommy even more. He tries to be gentle, making sure his fingers don’t touch his skin as he tucks the thick blanket under his chin and ears. Tommy doesn’t stir save for a small sigh. 

He stretches as he stands upright, hands outstretched toward the sky and groaning softly at the short lived relief his muscles fill with. His joints crack uncomfortably loud in the fuzzy silence, he’d been sitting for too long. He takes his mask off, tracing the indents on his cheeks from where it sat, pulling his glasses out of his pockets as he replaces it for the night. 

Techno undoes his hair from the ponytail it’s been sitting in, rubbing his fingers through the sore spots before pulling it into a bun at the base of his neck. Undoes the clasps holding his cape closed and laying it across Tommy, he’d rather he be sweating from the heat than an impending fever. 

“Watch over him for a bit,” he whispers to the pair of horses, he receives a neigh that he takes as understanding and smiles. 

The woods are quiet, the snow muffling his steps and the air around him. A chill settles across his skin but he doesn’t mind it, used to it by now. He picks at random leaves as he passes, feeling snowflakes delicately melt across his fingertips. He watches the forest twinkle and reflect the many stars above, it’s nice. 

Techno can still see the slight flickering of the fire as he walks, he continues walking, always turning to see just how far he’s gone. 

The sound of trickling water reaches his ears, soft and moving.  _ Must be a creek around here. _ It sounds close enough, Techno wonders if a part has frozen over in the cold.  _ Tommy can ice skate on it _ , not that he cares. He goes to look anyways, just to know. He follows the soft sound for a few minutes until he reaches a clearing, beaming with moonlight reflecting off shining ice and a small barely there waterfall. 

He smiles, a small self satisfied thing. The parts frozen over seemed thick enough, if it wasn't already it definitely would be with the chill in the air. Techno turns to take note of the surroundings so he can show it to Tommy when he wakes up,  _ probably gonna have to get him new skates.  _ Techno is sure the ones he has are too old to let him borrow anyways. He’s just about to leave when he hears it, a frantic far away thing. It’s enough to make his blood  _ freeze. _

_ “ _ Techno _!” _

_ Tommy. _

Clear and sharp, cutting through the night with jagged fear in his voice. He takes off running before he even knows what to do. His blood is thrumming and the axe at his back seems to  _ burn _ . 

“Techno!” Tommy’s voice echoes around the trees, broken and scared. In the distance he can see the slight flickering of the campfire. 

_ Just hold on Tommy. _

He doesn’t know what to expect, not sure what he should be prepared for. An attacker? A bear? Distantly he hopes it’s a bear, they require less  _ talking. _

The cold air whips at his cheeks and bites at his lungs and he’s sure he stopped breathing but that’s the least important thing at the moment. The clearing is within view, it looks untouched, but Tommy isn’t there. There’s a bundle of blankets where he once was and footprints dragging through snow. He turns to shout for Tommy  but a body hitting his chest turns the words to a short gasp.

He’s disoriented for a second, heaving and grunting before realizing the arms tugging at his back and the head buried in his chest belongs to Tommy. 

“Tommy?” He asks, trying to not sound as panicked, looking at the darkness behind him for the threat. “What is it? What happened?”

Tommy only sucks in a breath that doesn’t seem to fill his lungs, he feels his fingers get stuck on the few strands that left the bun as he ran. Tommy nudges his head against Techno’s chest again, shaking and heaving. 

“Tommy talk to me,” he tries, as calmly as he can, slowly coming to terms with the situation and wrapping his arms around him. 

Tommy shakes his head, breathes in a jagged breath, short lived and dizzying. Techno hears the telling hiccups and sniffles of sobbing coming from Tommy. Techno sighs, and rubs his hands down his back. He notices then Tommy was wearing  _ his _ cape, he looks over to see the fabric pool around them, wet with snow.

“Come on breathe with me Tom,” he says softly, deciding getting Tommy levelheaded is the best course of action. He takes a deep exaggerated breath in, “Like that Tommy.” 

It’s a few seconds before Tommy attempts it, air leaving him in a rush and sniffles once he does it. 

“Good,” he says, “Together now.”

Techno breathes. He feels Tommy breathe back. He exhales, he feels Tommy deflate. Minutes pass and it feels like years. The stars above seem younger than Techno feels at that moment. 

It’s quiet save for a few hiccups and gasps from Tommy. Techno holds him as it passes. Hopes that Tommy isn’t feeling the chill around them. He watches the moon. 

Tommy sags against him, exhausted and overwhelmed. Techno holds him steady, until Tommy pulls away, Techno lets him. 

His face is splotchy and tear stained, eyes pink and raw with emotion, mouth set in a firm downturn. There’s still tears pooling in his blue eyes, it’s never stopped being a heartbreaking sight. 

Techno moves to turn to the campfire, pausing for a second as he feels cold fingers brush his own. He lets Tommy hold his hand, says nothing as he guides them back, except for the slight squeeze he gives Tommy’s hand everytime he hears a soft cry. 

They don’t talk as they make it back. They don’t talk as Techno sits Tommy down and fixes the cape around him. As he slowly, gently, put the blankets around shivering shoulders. As he worms gloves and a water bottle into his hands.

“Drink, just a sip, then we’ll talk,” he says, his voice leaves no room for debate and Tommy simply nods, eyes far away and cloudy. 

Tommy looks exhausted, Techno doesn’t bother counting the minutes that pass, only putting logs in fire before it dies down. Watching Tommy’s chest rise and fall. 

“So,” Techno says, and wonders if it’s too late to have Wilbur deal with this. If he even  _ can _ in his state.

“So.” Comes the soft reply. 

Techno waits. The nights are always long anyways. 

He’s settled against a log when Tommy opens his mouth. Closes it. Opens it again. Looking for words. 

“Take your time,” he offers. Tommy nods, minutely. 

A heavy sigh. “I- I thought you left me.” It’s whispered and small and could be mistaken for a passing breeze if Techno hadn’t been staring right at him. 

“What?” He tries for it not to be so crass, but he’s extremely confused. 

“I woke up, you were gone. I thought you left me,” Tommy says, meekly and muffled as he speaks through the furs half his face is enveloped in. “I thought I was alone again.” 

Techno doesn’t say anything, lets Tommy have the space to fill. Tommy’s eyes are half closed and sad, reminiscing. 

“I don’t like being alone.” Techno knows this. It’s obvious, it’s a top three fact when it comes to Tommy. Like his eyes being blue, his voice being loud, he doesn’t like being alone. 

He grew up surrounded by people, barely a moment alone in his entire childhood, Tommy doesn’t know  _ how _ to be alone. Techno knows it’s stupid to wish he would never have to learn, but he’s been doing a lot of stupid things lately so what’s one more?

“There’s an ocean around here, back that way,” Tommy nudges his head a certain clumsy way and Techno just nods, he doesn’t really need the fine details. “It’s big, really big.”

_ Oceans often are, _ he doesn’t say. 

“He ferried me across it. Every time I saw land, I thought we’d stop, he just kept going. Until he was satisfied. Until he knew,” his voice cracks and eyes well with fresh tears. “Till he knew I couldn’t find my way back.” 

Not for the first time Techno thinks,  _ god he looks so small. _

Techno stared, picking an ocean, so big, so much, and Tommy lost in the middle. The moon his only company. 

“ _ Dream,”  _ the whisper is vicious and desperate, like standing on a crumbling edge. “He made them exile me. Threatened  _ another  _ war.”

Techno looks across the fire, to the way Tommy’s shoulders sag and shake, to the dark circles under his eyes and the way his hand clenches. Anger and desperation sewed into the fibers of his being. 

“A war,” Techno echoed. 

“And well Tubbo was mad, obviously. We didn’t want another war, not with how it ended, all it took.”

Techno thinks of Wilbur, of his father, the devastation and his own input in it. His stomach twists with guilt. 

“Still, I never thought,” Tommy’s voice cracks, shakes his head, tumbling curls across his face, turning to Techno, eyes wild and raw. “I never thought he’d make me leave,” the words snap into a gasp and Techno doesn’t hesitate as he stands and draws Tommy into his arms again. Holding him as he cries, heart wrenching and hurt. 

“He just watched, as Dream took me. Just watched they  _ all _ did.” Techno wants to ask for names, specifics and where they are now because his head is spinning and wants a few more crimes on his lengthy ledger. “No one visited me,” a hiccup. “No one cared,” a sob. “They’re all happier without me  _ he _ said.” A whine and Techno runs his fingers through unruly hair and tries not to fall apart at how Tommy shatters at it. “They never came, no one did.”

Tommy snaps his head up suddenly, form shaking with barely diluted rage and despair. 

“Everyone except  _ him _ .” He sneers, it doesn’t have as much impact as his eyes fill with fresh tears. “He’d come everyday, he’d bring me food sometimes, sweets. Shits hard to come by in the middle of nowhere.” A dry, humorless laugh. “He kept me company, he made me laugh. I didn’t feel so alone.” 

“But,” because there’s always a but, as if the story wasn’t already horrible enough, Techno braces for it. “He would take my stuff, whatever I had, whatever I made. Things I wasn’t  _ allowed _ to have. Unless he said it was okay.” Tommy shakes his head softly. “It was very rarely okay.” 

Tommy looks at him, eyes accusing and scared. “Did you ever get my invitation?” 

Techno blinks. 

“What?”

Tommy chuckles, short and down. “You don’t have to lie, you can just you didn't wanna come. I’m not worth seeing, right?” 

Techno loosens his grip on Tommy to reach out against a tear flooded cheek. 

“Tommy I didn’t know about any of this until you showed up at my door. I didn’t know Tommy,” He says, with as much force as possible, searching Tommy’s face for signs of belief. 

Instead he only finds heartbreak. His brows furrow and he slumps his head against Techno’s neck again. 

“I wanted to see you,” He cries and Techno holds him closer. “I wanted to see you, to see anyone, even if you didn’t want to see me, I missed you.” Tommy wails and sniffles and Techno breathes deeply, stares at the push and pull of the waves. Leans his head against Tommy’s hair and breathes. 

“I didn’t know.”  _ If I did. Would things still be this way?  _ “I’m gonna kill Dream.” He says it nonchalantly and Tommy laughs softly. 

“I miss Tubbo,” and Techno wants to say  _ Yes I know. _ “I miss him so much.” There’s so much anguish in the words, so much pain, Techno holds him tighter. 

Techno thinks of the pair, young and full of life. How the two of them would hang off each of his arms as Techno lifted them, how Tubbo would ask Techno to read to him on nights he stayed over, how the two would finish each other sentences, half of one whole. 

“He misses you too.” Techno says, with all the confidence in the world. Tommy shakes his head no, as he stifles another cry. 

“He probably thinks I'm dead,” Tommy’s voice is flat and the wet chuckle he gives makes Tecnnos skin crawl.

“What do you mean? Why would he think that?”  _ Exile doesn’t always mean death.  _ He doesn’t want to pull teeth but he has the terrible feeling this is something he can’t let slide. Tommy stills like someone who’s said too much, Techno tries to breathe past his quickening heartbeat. 

“I don’t like being alone,” he whispers. “I didn’t want to be alone anymore.” Voice shaking and guilty. “There was a cliff by my beach, high. It was easy to climb.” 

Techno didn’t want to hear anymore. Couldnt bear it. But couldn’t find a voice to tell Tommy to stop, he stares at a nearby tree and wishes they were home, their old home. With Wilbur and their dad, where they were happy, together, _alive._

“I would tell myself I just wanted to see Clara, make it a game,” Tommy smiles at Technos confused face. 

“Clara?” 

“The astronaut!” The words are lively and Tommy smiles a bit more. “There’s this one song I really like, makes me think of this astronaut girl dancing.”

“Clara the astronaut then?”

“Yes Techno, she’s very cool,” Tommy defends as if Techno had insulted her in some way. He tries to shake the image of Tommy, miles above the ground, staring at the stars, staring at the waves crashing beneath him, trying so desperately to feel better. Just a  _ child,  _ and the endless, unforgiving night sky. 

“While I was up there, I thought of you, of everyone, of Wilbur, Dad, Tubbo,” he pauses, gnaws on his lip and Techno holds his breath. “How they’d react, what they would do, would they even care?”

Techno  _ really  _ can’t hear anymore after that. He shifts abruptly until he’s staring at Tommy’s shocked teary face. Certain that he looked a few seconds away from snapping, he took a breath and loosened his grip slightly before opening his mouth. 

“It would have destroyed them Tommy. Beyond repair. Destroyed  _ me _ ,” he tries for his words not to shake but his resolve shatters slowly as Tommy’s lip quivers and his brows furrow and he bites back another cry. “I don’t know what I would do with myself if I lost you.” 

He doesn’t know what’d he do. But he knows, he can’t lose another brother. Not when he’s barely begun to mourn. Not like that, not anytime soon. 

“I can’t imagine a world without you,” he moves  to hold Tommy’s face in his hands, to cradle, to feel his warmth beneath his fingers, proof that he’s with him, alive and there. He doesn’t want to imagine a world without him.

“You’ve always made the space around you so bright,” he whispers and presses a kiss to the top of his head, holding him again. Tommy cries, cries and cries fully until he can’t anymore. Techno can imagine how light he feels when he’s done, he wipes his own tears above Tommy, where Tommy can’t see, vulnerable only to the trees around them. 

Tommy falls asleep on Technos shoulder shortly after, too drained to move. Techno only moves the blankets around him higher and when he’s sure Tommy won’t wake up, leans his head against blonde curls and breathes. 

“There’s another part of Theseus' story I didn’t tell you,” Techno says as the sun starts to peek through the trees. Tommy doesn’t wake up, Techno doesn’t expect him too. Still he keeps talking. 

“Of King Aegeus. His father. Who told Theseus to change his sails from black to white when he returned home so he’d know his son came back alive,” 

“Theseus wins, defeats the minotaur, a hero to his people,” He pauses, chuckles dryly. “He forgets to change his sails.” Techno shakes his head softly. “His father sees black sails, and overwhelmed with grief throws himself into the sea.” 

“Oh Theseus,” he says into Tommy’s hair, eyes closed and tired. “I would've followed you into that sea.” 

Birds chirp, the sun rises, Techno wonders distantly, if the ice he found will melt. 

-

The way back is quiet. It’s not a suffering silence, it’s comforting and it doesn’t shatter when broken, merely weaving against soft spoken words, as if making space for their weight in the air. 

“Thank you,” Tommy whispers, head turned, watching the trees as they pass. 

Techno hums. “Always, Tommy.” He says and means it. Tommy nods, Techno takes it as a win. 

Tommy feeds juniper apple slices, Techno puts his gloves on for him, their house breaks into view soon enough, past a clearing of trees and beaten path. 

If Techno pushes up his glasses far enough and squints he can see a ghostly figure waving from one of the tall windows of the second floor. He smiles, Tommy laughs and waves back just as excited. 

“Oh hey! He didn’t melt!” Tommy says as his eyed snowman, jumping off his saddle in a way that makes Techno suck in a breath and running towards it. “Hello sir.” Tommy greets the snowman, the snowman smiles it’s rocky smile back. 

Techno swings a leg over and off Carl, walking around to gather both horses leads to put them back in their stables. He takes a few steps before spotting another lump of snow a few feet from Tommy’s original snowman. 

“Looks like he has a friend,” Techno quips, as Tommy turns to a much smaller, even more deformed snowman. Could go unnoticed if it wasn’t for the blue tint the small lumps were painted in. His suspicions were confirmed when a few moments later Wilbur appears in front of them, smiling wide and pale yellow, pointing at the small snowman.

“I made a friend!” Wilbur claps in glee. Tommy laughs stepping over to the snowmen, nodding his head as if agreeing to the rather awful construction of snow. 

“Well it sure is, made of snow,” Techno mumbles under his breath and smiles at the chuckle Tommy tries to muffle with a cough. 

“How was the hunting?” Wilbur asks and Techno tries not to openly stare at Tommy’s reaction. Only to see there isn’t one. Except for a small shake of his head and a soft upturn of his lips. His eyes are clear and bright, Techno hasn’t seen that since he showed up at his door. 

“I wrestled a bear with my hands while Techno pissed himself and cried like a baby, you should’ve seen it Wil,” Tommy says, nose high in the air and arms crossed in exaggerated pride. Techno rolls his eyes, rolls them even harder when Wilbur seems to actually believe him.

“Is that true?!” The gullible sweatered ghost exclaims and Techno sighs. 

“Yeah, took a real beating to my ego,” Techno replies. Tommy laughs loud into the brisk air. 

“Oh! Almost forgot! There’s mail!” Wilbur says, swirling around in the air, but not disturbing the falling snowflakes. 

“Mail? Did you open it?” Techno asks and Wilbur shakes his head with a mighty offended look on his face. 

“Of course not! It was addressed to you!” Wilbur says and Techno almost laughs at the ghost of his war criminal brother looking so aghast at the concept of reading someone else’s letters. “Came on a big raven, kinda scary.” Wilbur says in passing. 

Techno squints, shoots a look at Tommy who’s already looking at him, wide eyes and smiling, a small timid thing. 

“Dad?”He says. 

“Dad.” Techno confirms. 

Techno pushes Tommy forward gently with an elbow. “Come on, go put the catch inside, Wilbur you can help too.” Tommy gives Techno an insufferable groan and Wilbur nods rapidly. 

Techno takes the horses to their stables who seemed happy to be back in their familiar hay and home. He walks out to the front, can hear a conversation happening inside the house, through a cracked window. 

He takes a step past the two snowmen in his yard. Then takes a step back. He smiles at the two, hopes it remains cold enough for them both to survive a while. 

There’s space for one more, he notices.

His hands are frost nipped and red, wet with melted snowflakes, when he finally goes inside. The other two don’t notice, he wipes his chilled hands on his pants reaching for the letter addressed to only him on the table. 

_ Techno. _ There’s no other name, but he knows his fathers handwriting. He opens the envelope with a quiet tear, watching as Wilbur cups Tommy’s cheeks after something he said, leaving finger splotches of deep blue across his face. 

He pulls the papers from the envelope's tear, unfolding it and nearly dropping it in shock. 

Tommy’s face stares back at him. Blonde and ragged and smiling. A handsome reward beneath his name. A ransom to turn him in for breaking the terms of his exile. He flips the pages to another ransom notice, this one very familiar and causing him to nearly laugh out loud. 

_ Wanted: Technoblade.  _ He reads. He notices his ransom money reward is slightly higher than Tommy’s, that makes him chuckle. He pulls another page out, this time with scrawling ink and words. His fathers. 

_ I wish I had one of Wilbur, to hang up above our mantle and complete the set. Tell Tommy I am glad he is safe, that he came to you. How is winter treating you? This house is so cold without you boys in it but as everything, winter too shall pass.  _

_ To my boys, my dear boys, I love you.  _

_ Your father.  _

Techno smiles, traces the grieving filled words, can picture the kitchen table his father sat at to write to him, light trickling through the dusty window over the sink. He flips through the ransom papers, smiling that their father had found some humor in it. God knows the man needed a good laugh at the moment. 

He tucks the papers into his pocket, noting to write back once they’ve settled. He looks back up to Tommy, sitting on the couch running a tall tale about his bravery in their trip to a very entranced Wilbur, floating idly above the fireplace. The flames lick through him, he doesn’t seem to mind. 

Techno sighs as he sits next to Tommy, tuning into his story, jumping in whenever Tommy gets way too ahead of himself. He watches his cheeks twist around his mouth, watches the blue streaks that still adorn them. 

_ You aren’t alone anymore.  _ The color seems to say. The blue of Tommy’s eyes, brilliant and  _ alive _ , seems to believe it. 

Techno smiles, it feels easier to do lately. 

Outside, the sun shines on three snowmen. 

**Author's Note:**

> hmm repost cause it wasn’t showing in the tags ao3 pls. 
> 
> (My phil in this found out about tommy’s exile like techno, much too late. But cause he was literally mourning lol. Techno tells him Tommy’s with him and then this letter comes through. I just didn’t wanna write that all out lol) 
> 
> (He also doesn’t know about ghostbur,,, yet)
> 
> Anyways Hope ya enjoyed! Here’s my twitter come yell!   
> [Twitter](https://twitter.com/Zoldyke_)


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